The days quickly flew by and Shinsou saw no signs of Remnant after that night where he finally spilled his heart out, a slight fear wrapped around his heart like a snake, he trusted him, more than anyone else in his life, so he knew that if Remnant lied to him and let him down, it would be a hard hit to his already wavering trust.
The fear only took a deeper hold of him when the nights became empty without him coming by to talk, he had missed a few nights before but never almost an entire week, had he forgotten about him? Had he been lied to once more?
"Is this the place?" A man with an eye-catching and bright blonde hair wearing a black leather jacket asked as he looked to the tired man beside him who was looking at a direction that had been written on a piece of paper.
"Should be, now come on, let's knock" The man with messy long black hair walked a few steps to the front door of the building and knocked on the wooden door and they waited for an answer.
"Yes, who is i- Present Mic!?" A man with light brown hair and pale skin that was covered in circles of multiple colors opened the door with a calm smile that instantly dropped in surprise when he saw a blonde hero standing in front of him "Wha- What can I do for you?" the man asked, trying to hide his excitement and panic with a shaky smile and hoped that they wouldn't notice his excessive sweating.
"Hello sir, sorry for intruding but we have come today because we received an anonymous tip of some problems going on in your street and we are asking the people here if they have seen anything, so if you could just give us a bit of your time, it would be very much appreciated" Hizashi said with a warm smile as Aizawa stood behind him who only gave the man a cold stare.
"Y-yes of course, but this little neighborhood of ours is very safe so hearing about problems happening in it are very surprising, oh would you like something to drink, we have water, some juice, I could make you some coffee, please just stay comfy here while I go get my family" the man lead the two heroes into his home as he kept rambling purely out of panic as he then offered them seats in their living room and then quickly left as he rushed up the stairs.
The man quickly went room to room telling his wife and his children about the situation until he reached Shinsous room which he entered with a stern look, all the warmth in his voice completely gone "Brat, right now we have some very important guests so I don't want you making a ruckus so quickly put something good on and be a good little kid and keep your mouth shut" with that and a slam from the door the man left a sad Shinsou behind.
To him, this kind of treatment wasn't new, when someone came to their home they always made him act like he was mute to avoid any accidents with his quirk, even if he was good with it, all to make themselves seem like saints.
Shnsou put on a long sleeve shirt, pants and shoes and headed downstairs with the rest of the family who threw glances at him that he just ignored but he couldn't help his surprise when he saw just who the guests were.
Like any other kid, Shinsou was a fan of heroes and since he had more than plenty of free time he spent most of his time looking up videos, interviews and articles about them, while doing that he had stumbled into something called the underground which really was just the name the authorities gave the place where villains usually stayed in and thus learned about the heroes that kept an eye on it and stayed hidden from the spotlight, those called underground heroes.
And right now, his idol, Eraserhead, was sitting right in front of him looking bored (which was actually just his normal face) so how could he not start to panic.
Finally being side by side of his adoptive family one could easily spot the differences, his messy purple hair compared to their light brown was one of the many differences, their tanned skin was a stark contrast to his pale skin.
Present Mic cleared his throat trying to break the awkward silence that had fallen between the panicking family and the heroes "Well, like I have already informed your husband, we received reports of some problems going on in your neighborhood and we would like to know if you have heard of anything going on these past few days" he repeated to inform the new present family members, this caused the parents and children to look confused as they tried to remember if anything was wrong, all except for Shinsou who only seemed to panic even more as an idea began to surface in his mind.
Could this be related to Remnant?
Obviously he hadn't just stayed in the dark, after their second meeting Shinsou looked up information in vigilantes and he found different articles talking about them, from people who saw them as heroes and other who called them reckless, but the main thing was that being a one of these 'illegal heroes' as one reporter put it, was illegal and could lead to long sentences in jail.
Could that be what was going on? Has someone reported Remnant and that's why he hasn't been seen since?
"I-I'm sorry but could you be more specific as to what kind of problems have been reported?" this time the mother asked as her family also nodded since they also wanted to know.
But this time Aizawa, who had yet to speak until now, was the one who answered giving the family a cold stare "Oh, it's nothing to bad, It's about a case of child abuse" these words cause the family to freeze in suprise and then… in fear.
Except for Shinsou who was instead confused, the panic that had taken slight hold of him disappeared slightly but only left the question, why were they looking into a case of child abuse?
For a split second, the words of Remnant rung in his head
" I'm going to have to call a friend for help, don't worry, he's also a hero "
Could they be…
"Well, I'm sorry to tell you but we have heard of no such cases here" The father said, the kind smile on his face looking a lot more forced than before and a shadow covering his eyes as he stared at the heroes.
Aizawa let out a tired sigh as he saw the change in their expressions, he didn't know if he should think of this as a win or not, at the beginning, after hearing the favor Remnant wanted them to do was rather surprising but it wasn't anything too special but after the terrifying display the kid gave them and the strange fright he gave the detective, he felt that it might have been a trap or something like that but he could easily tell that these were just normal people, really shitty people but normal nonetheless, but he did know the kid so maybe they had some kind of connection.
"I'll skip all the formalities, Sir, we have already looked into this, the child to your left, Hitoshi Shinsou, was adopted by you a little more than a year ago and in that time not only has your position in your job skyrocketed, you moved houses into a much more expensive neighborhood, but you know what the most surprising thing was?" Aizawa began, showing that the two of them were no fools and that they had done their own homework causing a shiver to run down the two parents backs as their expressions began to show more panic "when we talked to your friends and boss, they all said the same thing, they talked about just how good people you were to take in a quirkless mute child into your house and yet, in the records that we got from his orphanage not once had those two words ever appeared" with these last words Aizawas expression darkened as he glared at the wife and husband.
Then he turned to look at Shinsou who cowered at the suddeden attention "So kid, help clear up this mystery, can you talk?"
The parents turned to look at him, their faces contorted in anger and panic as they sent him a silent message warning him to not open his mouth and for a second it worked as Shinsou only looked down and shook his head.
Aizawa only rolled his eyes at this display "maybe this will help you" Aizawa said, he hoped it wouldn't have to come to this but he didn't want to know what that damn brat would do if they didn't get the kid out of this place "Remnant sent us"
Just those words alone were enough for him to snap his head back up and look at them in surprise.
He did it.
He fulfilled his promise.
A new flame started within Shinsou that consumed all the fear and restraints his adoptive parents had put on him. The exit out of this hell that he had hoped for years to open was right there in front of him, how could he let that door close again?
The parents were really confused with Aizawas last statement but ignored that when they heard Shinsou talk, louder than he ever had before as the fires of determination that burned in his heart pushed his forward "I'm not mute and I do have a quirk"
The father snapped, the anger in him making his painting his face red as he opened his mouth "You bast-"
" Stop "
Shinsous words seemed to cut the air around him as the fathers eyes suddenly emptied and his body froze, the anger that was in his face disappearing completely.
His wife who had been sitting beside him this whole time and watched as her husband fell under Shinsous control paled in fear.
One of the main reasons as to why they kept his quirk a secret and made him act like he was mute was because, unlike all the other people, they weren't disgusted by him having a 'villainous quirk' , they were scared, they knew exactly what they had done to him and if one day he grew tired of the abuse, he could easily control them all like puppets.
The two heroes were surprised when they saw the display of power from the kid. Aizawa was rather surprised, a quirk like that would make an amazing hero, he wanted to sigh as he thought about how an annoying vigilante had found such good talent.
"Well, I guess that settles that, now then Shinsou, are you willing to come with us and give us a confession on what has been going on here? Without it we won't be able to do much to help you" Mic said seeming completely unfazed by all that had happened in the last few seconds
Shinsou agreed on the spot, why would he ever say no?
With those things finally settled, the two heroes informed him that until everything was settled he would be living with them, this shocked him so much that he had accidentally dropped his control on his adoptive father but he could care less about them now.
Soon enough, for the first time Shinsou went out of that damned house with a bright smile.
--
Izuku walked once more to the park to talk with Toga after school.
He had stopped visiting Shinsou and instead focused on another matter ashe trusted Aizawa to fulfill his side of the deal, he knew the man very well and even without intimidating him, he knew that he would have helped Shinsou, he had a soft spot for kids which is what lead to him becoming a kind of parent for most of the class.
For now, he wanted to focus on Toga since he now knew more about her and their relationship had grown closer, now that he knew a lot more about her he was a lot more confident in changing her future and checking if his small theory was right but by the time he arrived to the park he was surprised to not see a sign of the girl anywhere.
Usually she was the first one here since her school was much closer so she wouldn't waste as much time walking here as he would so this was a big surprise to him.
He decided to look around, maybe he had just missed her or maybe…
As the dark idea began to set into his mind, Izuku was overcomed with panic, had he somehow messed things up and instead of helping messed things up and made her snap sooner than in his original timeline but if she had killed a student why would there still be some of those kids in the park, they would have surely heard of the news or had she attacked a random civilian and gone on the run.
More and more of these thoughts ran through his mind as he searched for any sign of the girl in the park and after not finding anything there he changed his target to the streets around it.
In his wild search he had gotten more than a few looks from other passerbys but he couldn't care less about what they thought as he needed to find his friend.
But when he finally got a sight of the girl, his face paled.
Toga lay shivering on the ground, her body almost out of view as it was hidden by a large trash can, her hands were trembling and her complexion was even paler than usual and she seemed to be muttering something.
Izuku hurried to her side as he got to his knees to help her "Toga what happened are you okay!? Did someone hurt you!?" With a quick look at her he didn't notice anything wrong with her like bruises or cuts so what had happened?
She was still slightly conscious so he helped her sit up but he was taken aback when she suddenly grabbed his arms, her grip strong enough to turn her knuckles white and even sting a little.
"T-Toga?" Izuku asked, the panic beginning to fade only to leave space for the fear that began to rise up from his stomach.
She then looked at him.
All the hairs in his body stood straight as if he had been struck by lightning.
Memories began to flash before him of all the times he faced against those animalistic eyes.
In that moment, her eyes changed from the fun and shy girl he had come to know and changed to the blood obsessed hunter that he had fought with so many times.
Hey bright yellow eyes shone with a predatorial gleam as they looked at him like she hadn't eaten anything in years.
His instincts were two slow.
no, it wasn't his instincts, those had kicked in a while ago, his body was too slow, he couldn't activate any of the quirks because of the fear of hurting her and her death grip was too much for his still developing body as she pulled him forward and she lunged at him, fangs bared.
She easily pierced his skin.
Izuku let out a grunt as she bit the right side of his neck, a little above his shoulder and he felt a wave of dizziness strike him almost making him fall to the floor only if it wasn't for her hold on him.
She greedily gulped down his blood almost as if she hadn't drank anything but she did something that surprised him, her grip on him lightly until she let go of his arms and instead pulled him into a hug and soon his blood wasn't the only thing staining his clothes as she began to cry.
Some part of her was still in there and she doesn't seem to be willingly doing this, meaning that this is a kind of instinct, but knowing that she was still there and worried about him made this feel… a little bit less scary.
He weakly hugged her back, one arm wrapping around her and the other stroking her hair as she just continued.
There was nothing but silence between them but even then, she could understand the message he was giving her.
It's okay.
I'm here.
Hours seemed to pass until she finally let go of his neck and fell asleep on him, Izuku put a hand on his wound as he activated his healing quirks, the bite marks quickly healing until he stopped them, it would be weird if the wound healed so quickly.
He sighed when he looked at the two of them, their clothes were covered in blood and dirt so if they walked back into the street they would catch everyone's attention so the best option would be to be more careful.
Even if this experience had been rather scary it had helped Izuku understand a lot more things.
Usually Toga would turn into the person they drank their blood from but she looked exactly the same as before meaning that she didn't do it for her quirk but more for her instincts.
"Guess this proves it…" he mumbled as he activated warp, a large pile of black goo formed in front of him as it then formed into a white box, he opened it to reveal his vigilante outfit.
He had hidden the box somewhere in his room where his mother wouldn't check and with warp he could easily get it anywhere in seconds but now he placed the red hoodie on Toga and he put on his black mask as he gently held her in a bridal carry since it was the most secure one with what he was about to do.
Izuku took a deep breath as his body was covered in red electricity and with a super powered jump reached the top of the building.
"You never told us what your theory was about, you know" fifth said as he appeared next to Izuku.
"I just wasn't sure but this is more than enough proof" Izuku easily jumped over the building as he headed to his house "We knew that she definitely had something going on like Shinsou did and after she finally told me about it an idea came to me, what if her quirk was more complicated than we thought?"
"More complicated? What do you mean?" Nana asked.
"Well, quirks can affect many things of their user, an obvious example are the mutation quirks, those fully change a how a person look like but to accommodate those changes, their insides must also change, stronger bones, more muscle, simple stuff like that, but they can also change stuff like their tastes, most people with cat related mutations tend to like seafood more than the average, but sometimes they can even change a the body so much that even their need to survive change" Izuku said.
"Hold on" Third said "Are you saying that her little transformation quirk changed what she needed to survive, like for example, breathing air?" he asked
"Yep, a better example would be people with fish mutations, some can easily survive on land but there are some that need to stay underwater to live since they can't breath air like normal humans" he answered back.
"Okay, I get those, but the girl's quirk isn't a mutation so it doesn't make much sense" sixth said, still not seeing the point.
"I think I get it" Second suddenly said "you are saying that her quirk has changed her in a way we didn't know and I can probably guess what it is" Second said with a sly grin "if we considered her strange obsession with blood, the way she calmed down after drinking your blood and her body, like her sharp canines. All those point to a strong relationship to how vampires were described in old folklore in Eastern Europe, sharp fangs to easily penetrate flesh and drink blood which is what they feed on since normal food usually didn't give them the nutrients they needed, but vampires have been told to have many other powers except shape shifting into other people and she hasn't shown any other power aside from her normal shape shifting even after her quirk went through an evolution, so this leads us to one answer, her quirk is a lot more related to vampires of old then we thought, she may not have the powers but she has the same needs, so if she has been only eating only normal food and not drinking peoples blood, she was unknowingly killing herself until today were she finally succumbed to her instincts and lashed out at you" he finished proudly, but was then confused by the strange looks he got from the other users "What?"
Fourth let out a small laugh "Nothing its just that none of us expected you to know such strange knowledge"
"Says the hermit." Second scoffed and pointed at first "How come I seem weird when I talk about my own interest but when I first spends hours talking about comics no one says anything?"
"I'm sorry but my little brother is not weird, he is a nerd, there's a difference" Hisashi said as a matter of fact.
"Not helping" First whined.
Second wasn't wrong, those had been the same thoughts Izuku had (except for the whole vampire thing) he had thought that maybe one of the reasons she could have lashed out was that she had been suppressing her quirk thus hurting herself without even knowing it, it then developed after remembering how much she liked blood and how drinking it seemed to make her extremely happy as if she had eaten her favourite meal.
So the theory changed that maybe, because of her quirk, her body didn't change her mentality to have an interest in blood but to have a necessity towards it, like a lion knows that it needs to eat meat to survive, her body knew that she needed blood but she only kept ignoring those craving until it finally was too much and she snapped.
But after he interfered and helped her gain trust in someone she could be herself, she must have subconsciously let go of her restraints and it caused it all to collapse on her.
Thankfully the one who found her was him and not another person as things could have gone much worse.
With the sun setting behind him, he finally arrived to the front door of his home, with his arms busy with the girl he used blackwhip to take his mask off and knock on the door.
Blood had started to pour again from his wounds because he didn't fully heal them and all of the strain his body was put under with one for all and the strengthening quirks he used, so when he saw his mother open the door he felt the exhaustion finally hit him as he let out a tired sigh.
"Izuku, it's really late, where have you been- IZUKU!!" She had been worried as he had been coming back later these past few weeks but he had never come home so late but the worries about him being late disappears the moment she saw him with an open wound in his neck that dyed half of his clothes red and carrying an unconscious girl that was just as covered in blood as he was.
"Hey mom, I made a friend" he said with a weak smile.
